It’s perhaps an overdue move to expand the Corvette into a family of vehicles – an idea said to be worth $12 billion USD. But leave it to some of the more spreadsheet-driven decision makers over at General Motors to possibly abuse such a concept. The latest word is that GM is looking at taking the Camaro name (yes, the Chevy muscle car going away after 2023) and expanding into a brand all its own to include an electric SUV in the future. The same report also claims that a Cadillac Escalade brand expansion is in the works, and could include everything from a luxurious Land Cruiser fighter to a minivan-type vehicle for China.
Did April Fool’s Day move to December?
Speaking of, I once wrote a tongue-in-cheek article on April 1st several years ago in a previous life about Escalade becoming a brand of vehicles. At the time, the folks at Cadillac didn’t seem too enthused, as people apparently believed it. Was I simply predicting the future? Planting a seed of inspiration to eventually bear fruit? Suppose I’ll never tell, and GM would never credit me regardless. But I’m also not about to declare such a story some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. Yet.
Image copyright Mattheus Pach, Muscle Cars & Trucks## Camaro Brand, Escalade Brand: What’s Really Happening
According to our intel – which has delivered time, and time again – there is nothing to immediately corroborate the notion that General Motors is going to expand the Chevrolet Camaro nameplate into a brand, or the Cadillac Escalade into a brand. It’s possible that some interesting proposals are at work deep in the GM Design Studio, but that doesn’t mean that plans have solidified any further than that. It’s also possible that GM is “evaluating” such an idea, but such a strategy shift remains fluid at the time of this writing.
So, Camaro fans, rest easy for now. There doesn’t appear to be a Camaro SUV or sedan in the works. Cadillac Escalade enthusiasts: there isn’t an Escalade minivan that’s been green-lit for production just yet. As for you Corvette curmudgeons out there: you’ll soon be seeing an electric sedan with a cross-flagged logo on it, followed by an electric Corvette SUV. It’s for your own good.
Perhaps seeing the success of the Ford Bronco brand is keeping Chevy up at night. After all, Ford resurrected a beloved nameplate, did so correctly (unlike the Blazer), and expanded that nameplate to include a more entry-level product with the Bronco Sport. And also includes those customers in brand events like the Bronco Off Roadeo.
Or, perhaps coming back from an auto show in the dystopia of Los Angeles which celebrated simulacrum (a “sporty” Prius and an “off-road” Porsche 911), GM marketers may be left dizzy with post-modernist assumptions that vehicles and nameplates are simply “blank slates” that can be molded and crafted as their unearned sense of genius sees fit. It’s truly a strange time for the automotive industry.
Here’s a better idea than a Camaro SUV: bring back Pontiac.
